andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Ah, Twitter, where would we be without you.

In the first of today’s Twitter-leaked news stories, Courtney Love spilled the virtual beans last week about her outrage over the new Kurt Cobain Guitar Hero avatar.

“FOR THE RECORD, I DID NOT APPROVE KURTS AVATAR FOR GUYITARHERO5. i think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar,” she wrote.

Then came the more telling post: “We are going to sue the shit out of Activision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises.”

Activision has since responded in a less-mouthy fashion.

“Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero® 5,” according to Pitchfork.

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In a move sure to delight and anger plastic instrument enthusiasts everywhere Kurt Cobain has been included in Guitar Hero 5 alongside living rockers Santana, Matt Bellamy, Shirley Manson and deceased Johnny Cash.

The addition of Kurt Cobain gives us two never before used Nirvana tracks in a Guitar Hero or Rock Band video game, “Lithium (live)” and the holy grail *drum roll* “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

One has to wonder how much money Courtney Love made off this little foray but in any event I’m excited to take my flannel jacket out of the closet and rock out come September 1st.

London & Co., a business management and accounting firm is suing Courtney Love for failing to give them profits from the sale of a portion of Nirvana’s publishing catalogue.

According to CTV.ca, the company claims that Love agreed orally to split five per cent of her earnings or those from her company when she sold a portion of Nirvana’s catalogue.

The company alleges that Love sold a portion of Nirvana’s publishing catalogue for $19.5 million but did not give them their share of the sale.

The company alleges that they should have received $975,000 from the sale.

Love became a widow in 1994 when her husband and Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain committed suicide. She owns most of the rights to both Cobain’s and Nirvana’s work.

According to Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain’s ashes have been stolen from her Hollywood home, leaving her suicidal.

The remains were stored in a pink bear-shaped handbag and hidden in a wardrobe, leaving Love to suspect a former friend of the theft.

“I can’t believe anyone would take Kurt’s ashes from me,” Love told News of the World. “I find it disgusting and right now I’m suicidal. If I don’t get them back I don’t know what I’ll do. They were all I had left of him.”

Much of Cobain’s ashes were scattered in a New York Buddhist temple and in the Wishkah river in Washington state.

If you don’t know who James McAvoy is, you probably will soon.

The Scottish actor is the frontrunner for the role of Kurt Cobain in an upcoming biopic.

Cobain’s widow Courtney Love and her attorney Howard Weitzman will produce the film, based on Charles Cross’ 2001 biography Heavier Than Heaven.

Troy screenwriter David Benioff has signed up to pen the script chronicling the life of the troubled musician until his suicide at the age of 27 in 1994.

Scottish actor James McAvoy is reportedly the first choice to play Kurt Cobain in a new biopic that will be produced by Courtney Love.

According to a source, “James is making a big impact in Hollywood at the moment. Hollywood bosses are convinced he is the perfect choice to play Kurt Cobain.”

The film, written by David Benioff (“The Kite Runner”) will be based on both Cobain’s personal unpublished journals and the biography “Heavier Than Heaven.”

McAvoy will next be seen in the Ian McEwan adaptation “Atonement” with Keira Knightley. He broke out as Mr. Tumnus in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and garnered critical acclaim in the Oscar nominated “Last King of Scotland.”

A new Kurt Cobain biopic is in the works, with “Wolverine” screenwriter David Benioff tapped to bring the Nirvana frontman’s story to the big screen.

Benioff, whose credits also include “Troy” and “25th Hour,” will adapt journalist Charles Cross’ biography of the Nirvana frontman, “Heavier Than Heaven.” The biography is partly based on Cobain’s unpublished diaries as well as interviews with friends and family members.

Cobain’s widow Courtney Love will act as executive producer along with her lawyer Howard Weitzman.

No casting details are currently available, though the blogosphere has been buzzing that Ryan Gosling should play the part of Cobain.

It is not yet known whether original music rights have been secured.

Cobain committed suicide in 1994, leaving behind his wife and a daughter.

The new biopic won’t be the first film inspired by the musician’s life and untimely death. AJ Schnack’s documentary “Kurt Cobain: About A Son” premiered at Sundance earlier this year. And the 2005 film “Last Days,” directed and written by Gus Van Sant, stars Michael Pitt as a Seattle musician whose life and career closely parallels Cobain’s own.

Nirvana’s lead singer, Kurt Cobain, has taken the King, Elvis Presley’s place atop Forbes.com’s list of top-earning dead celebrities.

Reuter’s reports that the grunge rocker took in $50 million between October 2005 and October 2006. Presley, who has dominated this chart since its inception six years ago, went down a notch in the most recent tally, raking in only $42 million, as opposed to last year’s $45 million.

Forbes.com bases these findings on revenues from licensing deals and for using the late celebrities’ image and work in outside advertising.

This was Cobain’s first time on the list, thanks mostly to his widow, Courtney Love, selling 25 per cent of her stake in Nirvana’s song catalogue to a New York publishing company PrimeWave.

Other deceased celebrities on the list include “Peanuts” cartoon creator Charles Schulz at $35 million, Beatles legend John Lennon at $24 million and genius Albert Einstein at $20 million.